Multicolor printing apparatus



Feb. 8, 1944.

F; Os'rOLAZA' EF-AL MULTICOLOR PRINTING APPARATUS and Se t. 12, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.:L.

INVENTORS FR A N4K OSTO LAZA JOHN F. Dosmocu. ,J

BY %M 'ATJ'ORNEY 1944. F. osToLAzA ETAL MULTICOLOR PRINTING APPARATUS s sheeis-she et 2 Filed Sept. 12,- 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 F. OSTOLAZA EI'AL MULTICOLOR PRINTING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 12, 1941 v v '43 50 {Z 5 4 Feb. 8, 1944.

INVENTORS FRANK OSTOLAZA JOHN F. DOSKOCIL, JR.

ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 8, 1944 MULTICOLOR PRINTING APPARATUS Frank Ostolaza, Florissant, and John F. Doskocil,

Jr., St. Louis, Mo., assignors to Mexican American Hat Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application September 12, 1941, Serial No. 410,500

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in multi-color printing apparatus.

An object of this invention is to provide a multi-color printing apparatus which comprises a design carrying unit or platen and a reservoir tray, said tray having compartments containing different colors of a printing substance, all of these colors being transferred from the tray to the design printing unit at a single operating cycle and thereafter transferred from the design unit to an object to be printed.

Another object of the invention is attained in the provision of a multi-color printing apparatus which comprises a pair of rollers between which the article to be printed is passed, one of said rollers having thereona design to, be printed in a plurality of colors, a reservoir tray mounted on a reciprocating arm which drives said rollers, the tray consisting of a plurality of compartments each of which may contain a different colored printing substance, these compartments match the design on said design carrying roller so that when the tray contacts the design roller the different colors will be transferred to the design roller in matched relation, and upon further rotation of said roller the design in colors is applied to the obpect to be printed.

Another object is attained in the provision of a design carrying printing roller, a reservoir tray having a plurality of diiferent color printing substance compartments anda pad or blanket on said tray through which a printing medium may be transferred to the design carrying roller by contact and capillary attraction.

sun another object is achieved in the. provision of a simple inexpensive printing apparatus consisting of a single reservoir tray which supplies various printing colors to a single design carrying printing roller which will print a plurality of colors in one operation at a minimum of time and operating cost.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following. detailed description and accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of one form of a multi-color printing apparatus illustrating this invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a guide accessory for one particular object such as a hat which may be printed on this apparatus.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a the apparatus.

Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section as viewed along line 5-5 of Fig. 4. v

portion of Fig. 6 is a detail section of the reservoir tray and rollers taken on line 66 of Fig. 4 and Fig. 7 is a vertical cross section taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 5.

The printing apparatus illustrating this invention in one of its forms is best shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and consists of a table structure I0 having a top ll, supporting legs [2 and a shelf !3. Mounted on shelf is is a driving motor I 4, the shaft of which is provided with a sheave l5 which drives a. larger sheave it through belt l'!, the sheave it being mounted on a shaft l8 journaled in bearings 19 secured to shelf It, also mounted on shaft i8 is a sheave 29 which, through belt 28, drives sheave 22 on a shaft of a gear reduction unit 23 mounted on the table top H, Suitand 3!! connected atone of their ends by a hub 3| which embraces standard 21 and is secured thereto by a threaded stud 32. Rotatably mounted in side plate 29 and a short plate 33 is a shaft 34 to one end of which is secured a sheave 35 connected by belt 36 to a sheave 37 on a shaft of gear reduction unit 23, to the opposite end of shaft 34 is secured a crank arm 38 the outer end of which is pivotally connected by pin 39 to the rear end of a reciprocating arm 40.

The forward end of arm it is provided with a curved longitudinal slot through which projects a pin @7 2 secured in the side plate 39 at its forwardend. Adjustably mounted on the inner face of arm lll as by bolts 43 is a tray carrying plate Ml having slots 45 formed therein through which bolts 43 extend to allow vertical adjustment of'said plate. On the inner face and near the lower margin of plate 44 is secured a channel member 4 5 into the channel of which is removably positioned, as by screw 47, a reservoir tray unit 48.

The reservoir tray unit at comprises a block 49 having portions removed therefrom to provide apertures 58; the spacing and shape of these apertures co-operate to form a design corresponding to the design to be printed, all for a purpose hereinafter appearing. Secured to the under surface of block 49 is a silk screen 54 which co-operates with apertures 50 to form a plurality of reservoirs 52 for receiving a printing substance such as ink or paint. Also secured to the under face of block 49 below the silk screen is an absorbent pad 53 of any suitable material such as felt or woolen fabric, the pad absorbs the printing liquid from the reservoirs 52 but will not permit an intermixture of the printing liquid from different compartments of the tray, such intermixture would of course be undesirable when each compartment contains a different color printing liquid as used in multi-color printing for which the illustrated apparatus is particularly adaptable.

Journalled in side plates 29 and 30 near their forward ends is a shaft 54' provided with a keyway 55, securely mounted on shaft 54 asby set screw 56 projecting into keyway 55, is a gear 51 having a hub 58 projecting from one face thereof. Secured to the lower edge of the reciprocat ing arm 40 near its forward end is a rack 59 which will engage with and drive gear 51 during the forward movement of arm 41], but due to the curvature of slot 4| and the vertical movement imparted to the arm by crank arm 38 the rack will clear the gear during the rearward movement of arm 40. Mounted on spacer bolts 69- projecting from the inner surface of plate 30 is abrake plate 6!, bored as at 62 to embrace gear hub 58 and provided with slots 63 and a tightening bolt 64- all of which co-operate to apply a braking pressure or drag against the rotation: of gear 51. It will be seen that the brake mechanism is necessary to prevent overrunning of gear 5! when the rack on arm it-becomes disengaged therefrom.

Mounted on shaft 54 for rotation therewith, as by key 55, is a design carrying printing roller or cylinder 66 which comprises an inner body member 61, and an outer sleeve 68 which may be made of any suitable material such as rubber, wood, lead, steel, etc.', and its outer surface engraved or embossed in a design to be printed, as well known in the printing art. The sleeve or cut 68 may be originally provided with its design in a fiat position and thereafter joined together at 69; such joint providing an inwardly projecting bar or rib 1!] which seats in a groove II in the body member 61 to prevent rotative displacement of the body and sleeve.

Positioned below the design carrying printing roller 65 is a pressure roller i2 which may if desired have a sleeve 13 of resilient material about its outer surface, the roller 12 being mounted for rotation on a shaft 14 one end of which is secured to the forward end of a pivoted arm E5. The arm is pivoted at 16 to a collar 11 adjustably secured by a bolt 18 to the standard 21 below the frame 28, and attached to an intermediate portion of the arm, as at 19, is one end of a turnbuckle 80 to the opposite end of which is secured a spring 81 fixed at its upper end to a pin 82 carried by hub portion 3| of frame 23. The spring 81' serves'to urge the pressure roller toward the design roller to hold. the object to be printed in contact with the printing roller 66. A link rod 83 connects the treadle 25 to the arm 15 so that when treadle is pressed downward by an operator, the arm 15 will pivot about pin it against tension of spring 8! moving pressure roller 12 away from printing roller (55, this spaced relation of rollers 66 and i2 is desirable for inserting and removing an object before and after printing.

The apparatus shown and described above may be used to print a variety of objects such as paper or fabrics in rolls or sheets and irregular objects such as hats, lamp shades, etc. There is shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings a guide 84 which is useful when printing a design on the brim of a hat H, this guide 84 consists of a wire frame 35 formed as shown and having at one end thereof a base block 85 which can be secured to the arm 15 by a wing head bolt 81, and spaced from the base 86 on frame 85 is an upstanding crown guide 83. The use of the guide 84 is illustrated in Fig. 1 wherein the hat H is shown in broken line with its brim between rollers 66 and 12 and the inside of its crown in contact with crown guide 88.

In operation and use the treadle is initially depressed by the operator which lowers pressure roller 12 away from printing roller 66 and disengages clutch 24, and th several compartments of the reservoir'tray are supplied with the desired colors of printing ink or paint. The object to be printed is now inserted between rollers 56-72 and treadle 26 released allowing spring 8| to raise arm 15 and roller 12, holding the object to be printed such as the brim of a hat H tightly between rollers 66-'|2', release of the treadl also engages clutch 24 and rotation is transmitted from the motor through the driving mechanism previously described to shaft 34 and crank 38 which supplies a reciprocating and rocking motion to arm 40. In the forward movement of arm 40 the gear rack 59 thereon engages gear 51 thus rotating printing roller 66, during this forward motion the pad 53 on reservoir tray 48 will be in rolling contact with the design printing roller 66 and will transfer the desired color of printing substance by capillary attraction to the proper designs on the roller. Rotation of printing roller 66 also feeds the object through and between rollers 6fi12 and at the same time prints the design thereon. During the rearward movement of arm 40 the rack is raised away from gear 51 and the tray 48 away from roller 66, and the rotation of roller 58 is checked by the brake device until the next forward movement of arm 45].

It is important to note that the shape and spacing of the compartments 52 in tray 48 approximately match the shape and spacing of the design on printing roller 55 and when a different design is to be printed, the design roller and reservoir tray are both removed from the machine and another match pair mounted in their place. In replacing a reservoir tray it is only necessary to remove screw 41, slide the old tray out of channel 46, insert another tray in its place and replace screw 41, it will be apparent that, if necessary, vertical adjustment of tray 48 may be accomplished through plate 44 and bolt 43. The replacement of a design roller 66 is accomplished by partially moving shaft 54 outward through plate 30 and gear 51, until roller 66 can be removed and another placed in position, after which the shaft is returned to its original operating position. The shaft 54 is held in its normal position by a pivoted latch 9!] engaging a groove 9|. in the shaft, but when removal of shaft is desired latch 99 may be disengaged from the groove and an enlarged end 92 of the shaft grasped to displace the shaft longitudinally.

It is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the specific apparatus or process shown and described herein and that various changes and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit and intended scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A printing apparatus comprisingra frame, a design carrying printing roller rotatably mounted in said frame, a reciprocable arm positioned in said frame and carrying thereon a reservoir tray having therein a plurality of printing liquid compartments corresponding in shape to that of the design on said printing roller, guide means between said arm and frame to urge said tray into contact with said roller, driving means between said arm and said roller, and means for reciprocating said arm to rotate said printing roller and effect contact between said tray and the roller for transferring the printing liquid thereto.

2. A printing apparatus comprising a frame, a design carrying printing roller rotatably mounted in said frame and having secured thereto a gear, a reciprocating arm position in said frame and having a gear rack thereon, guide means between said arm and said frame to determine the longitudinal and vertical movement of said arm, a reservoir tray secured to said arm for movement therewith, and meansfor driving said arm whereby the gear rack causes periodical rotation of the roller through said gear and rack and simultaneously effecting contact between said tray and th design roller by said guide means for transferring a printing liquid thereto.

3. A printing apparatus comprising a frame,

a printing roller having a design thereon and rotatably mounted in said frame and having secured thereto a gear, a reciprocable arm having a gear rack thereon positioned in said frame, a reservoir tray secured to said arm for movement therewith above and in contact with said roller, guide means between said frame and said arm to determine the periodic engagement between said arm rack and said roller gear and contact between said roller and said tray, an

idler pressure roller positioned below said printing roller and rotatably mounted on a pivoted bar for movement toward and from the printing roller, a spring urging said idler roller toward said printing roller for holding an object to be'printed therebetween, driving means for reciprocating said arm and its reservoir tray, the reciprocation of said arm causing rotation of said printing roller and printing liquid transferring contact between said tray and the printing roller.

4. A printing apparatus comprising a frame, a printing roller having a design thereon and rotatably mounted in said frame, a gear fixed for rotation with said roller, a reciprocable arm positioned in said frame and provided with a gear rack, a reservoir tray secured to said arm for movement therewith above and in contact with said roller, guide means between said frame and said arm to determine the periodic engagement between said arm rack and said roller gear and contact between said roller and said tray, an idler pressure roller positioned below said printing roller and rotatably mounted on a pivoted bar for movement toward and from the printing roller, a spring urging said idler roller toward said printing roller for holding an object to be printed therebetween, driving means for reciprocating said arm and its reservoir tray, the reciprocation of said arm causing rotation of said printing roller through said gear and said arm rack and printing liquid transferring contact between said tray and the printing roller, and a manually operated treadle connected to said idler roller bar and to a clutch controlling said driving means for selectively controlling actuation of said driving means and the positionof said idler roller.

FRANK OSTOLAZA. JOHN F. DOSKOCIL, JR. 

